These photos were taken this morning at around 8:30 a.m. The first photo was taken from Fourth Avenue and shows the open front door of the church, through which you can see a wall that has been stripped down to the lathe -- evidence of interior demolition
The second photo shows a window at the back of the church on the Ovington side that has been boarded up from the inside, for some reason.
The third photo shows a workman in a hardhat (there was another guy who doesn't appear in this photo) standing on top of the scaffolding over the front doors of the church on Fourth Avenue. They are preparing to remove the rose window from the church.It was too dark to take good photos when I got home tonight, but I could see from Fourth Avenue that the scaffolding over the front doors had been extended up about 20 feet and that a portion of the rose window, just past 12:00 o'clock, had been removed today. The gaping hole was left uncovered.
It is our understanding that a DOB permit is required for interior demolition. As far as we know, no permit has been issued for this job.
We are concerned, as Councilman Gentile has told us he is, about the environmental impacts of the planned demolition of this 109-year-old structure. To the best of our knowledge, no one has addressed the potential effect on the surrounding community of the release of toxic substances such as lead and asbestos.
